One piece of advice I’ll never forget is when it was said to me (or did I read it somewhere?) that: ‘Whatever situation you find yourself in, derive a point of benefit.’

The last 3 weeks (and beforehand) for me have felt like no less than a rollercoaster ride – sudden phone calls from family, surprises beyond my expectation, births followed by deaths followed by spontaneous family drama, abrupt change of plans, unexpected travelling, finding myself in situations where I’ve been told to make big decisions in less than 5mins! Phew, I guess you can say it’s been slightly err… challenging. But subhanallah, one thing that didn’t leave my mind is the golden advice: ‘Whatever situation you find yourself in, derive a point of benefit.’ – And it was this that had me sitting & looking over my situation and the changes that came with it, seeking out the hidden fawa’id (benefits) and trying to take some lesson from it all.

Everybody has a story to tell, and this is the undisputed fact of life. The maqadir (decrees) of Allah which are embedded into our lives swiftly take us on a diverse course whereby we all emerge with something different to one another – different experiences, different strengths & weaknesses, different mentalities and viewpoints. The wise one is he/she who learns from these lessons of life, these Signs and Sunnan of Allah, our Maker `azza wa jall.

For many, acting upon this advice of learning to derive benefit from every moment of life will mean taking a few minutes out on a regular basis, to contemplate over the course of the day, week or even year. Regardless of whether you perceive your situation to be good or bad (or somewhere in between), there is always a point of benefit which you can obtain and take from. The more you do this, the more you develop your optimism and judgement in matters – and this not only gives you a healthy outlook on life’s sudden twists and turns, but it also increases your Iman as you learn to appreciate the Qadr of Allah, gain husn al-dhann of Allah (good expectations & opinion) and overall become a more grateful slave of Allah.

اللهم اجعلنا من الشاكرين الحامدين التائبين العابدين – اللهم آمـــــين